Blog posts that inspire
Let’s start our Monday off with a little confidence…
I saw this poem on Pinterest.
I know God has a plan. I pray for direction to follow it, patience to wait for it, and knowledge to know when it comes.
I whole-heartedly believe this and need this. I hope this inspires you today.
Enjoy your Monday!
Other posts on confidence:
Mental Chicness
A Lovely Mind
A Lovely Mind- Part 2
Good Morning Everyone,
Goodness, Halloween is next week and I have begun my holiday list review. It dawned on me this morning that I have to start preparing for Thanksgiving.
I like to start my turkey shopping as soon as possible. The brand that I like to buy usually sales out pretty quickly here in Indy.
Yesterday morning, I attended the Coffee Classic Series at the symphony. The performance was called Mozart’s Concerto for a King. The program started at 11:00 a.m. so I took an hour of leave and attended the performance. It was lovely. I really enjoyed having a morning symphony. It eased my mind and I was completely relaxed. I look forward to attending more morning symphonies.
I wanted to end the week with these beautiful photos of autumn decor from Victoria Magazine. Autumn decor is usually brown’s, yellow’s and orange’s. But I really like how these pastel colors were tastefully done.
I adore this look. The pumpkins are the perfect mauve color and I love the gourds and weathered lanterns. But I would be worried about my dogs picking up the pumpkins and chewing on them.
These are gorgeous! I love the botanical greenery and the hydrangea blossoms. The dusty pink pumpkins are a perfect fit in this window box. To read the original article you may see it here.
I hope you all have a great weekend. I will try to upload a video this weekend. I am just trying to figure out what I want it to be about. Enjoy your weekend!
(photos via Victoria Magazine.com)
I saw a fantastic post on one of the interior designers that I follow on Instagram. She posted tips from Audrey Hepburn about beauty…. had to share them.
I am still on my quest for “mental chicness”. This past December I wrote this blog post about having a “lovely mind”. I have been watching more of the news, reading more articles, and doing my best to stay abreast of the world around me without going into complete depression.
It is not easy. There is so much going on in the world. Not to mention silly things that go on with social media. I have been so concerned about my Youtube channel and having “trolls”. I have heard some of the other YouTubers talk about how people contact them and make horrible comments. I really don’t understand that. If you don’t like someone’s content just simply “unfollow” them. It’s so easy but then again people are crazy.
I have been continuing to read the Living the Good Long Life by Martha Stewart. It was listed as one of my favorites a month or two ago. I have now entered the section of the book called “Accentuate the Positive”.
I must admit I can be a negative Nancy sometimes so I am trying to work on that bad habit. Changing your thoughts can change your life and so that has turned into a life goal for me. In the book, Martha gives 3 tips from author Rick Hanson (Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love and Wisdom) on how to accentuate the positive.
The first one is:
Turn positive events into positive experiences. All kinds of good things happen in your daily life that you hardly notice at all. (O.M.G. so true). Someone pays you a compliment- you barely pay attention to it or deflect it. Instead, take time to recognize every positive moment and experience it.
I know for me when someone pays me a compliment, I immediately say, “thank you Lord for those kinds words”. But that is just me…
The second is:
Savor positive experiences. Once you get used to recognizing these types of experiences, take it a step further and relish each good moment: hold on to it for 20 to 30 seconds, and allow yourself to really feel it in your body. The longer you hold these moments in your awareness, the more neurons fire simultaneously so they start wiring together to form a memory.
I like this idea of holding your moments in your thoughts. This is something I need to practice.
photo credit Annie Spratt
And the third is:
Consider how the experience is sinking into you and becoming a part of you. In other words, help weave it into the fabric of your brain and yourself.
Soak in the moments of life. I really want to work on this. With our daughter beginning high school this year soaking in moments has become a huge goal of mine.
Well, I hope that you enjoyed this post and take some of these tips and work on them yourself. I think we all get caught up in the problems and concerns of life and that we do just ignore those lovely comments that we receive.
No more ignoring…. take it in and be grateful.
(tips: Living the Good Long Life, page 169)
I bet this title alone intrigued you. It intrigued me too as it is the chapter that I am now reading in The Civility Solution. I mentioned this book back in December and I am still reading it.
Now that the holidays have passed and work has gone back to normal I can get back on schedule with reading. One of the first sentences in this chapter was, “Rudeness is the ugly face that disagreement shows when it’s mismanaged.”
I read this sentence twice…
Photo by Micheile Henderson on Unsplash
Last month I purchased a Real Simple magazine and enjoyed reading most of the articles in it. In one section of the book, it had a 12-month to-do for 2019. One of those to-do’s was starting a career journal.
I thought, hmmm a career journal? I currently do journal (see my blog post here if you missed it) but to actually have a journal dedicated to work goals? Honestly, I kind of like that idea. The article said this about the career journal…
Use a blank notebook or an app like Day One (free for the basic version; iOS and Android) to track accomplishments, note feedback you received, and list short-term goals. Ideally try to update it every day or once a week. “The more you visually see your goals and areas of improvement, the more likely you are to address them,” says Lauren McGoodwin, founder of Career Contessa, a professional-development site for women. It also serves as a source of proof points when you’re asking for a raise or promotion or looking for a new job.
I love the idea of making goals. I do have a few career goals and I am hoping that one of them will be accomplished this year. I have some extra journals in my nightstand drawer. I may have to turn one into my new career journal.
Now I don’t know if I will update it every week but about once a month sounds good to me. I do loving keeping goals. It helps me keep my vision in front of me. One thing that I am changing this year is being open to things. At first, I had my set goals and NOTHING was going to change my mind. But a recent event last year in 2018 help me to change that and helped me to be more open to different opportunities out there.
So now I don’t have my goals stuck on just one career move. Now I am much more open to exploring new adventures. So we will see what happens in 2019. I hope you all click on the link above and read the article. It is very insightful! Enjoy!!
It has now been 30+ days since the government shutdown and it has not been fun (my office has been affected by this). Sighing….. I really don’t know what to think anymore. It’s been so frustrating to watch and hear the news. I have been trying to take everything in doses. I don’t want to overwhelm myself or become engrossed with what’s going on yet I do want to still be informed.
During this shutdown, I have been trying to keep my life in order and trying to keep the right perspective. It is so easy to get caught in other people’s life frustrations and situations. Sometimes you will find yourself absorbing other people’s emotions and I don’t want to do that. I am crazy on my own thank you very much! So what I have decided to do is remain grateful and enjoy as much beauty as I can.
